Creatures of the Mandalorian Season 2

Krayt Dragon

The Krayt Dragon is the first creature to ever feature in the Star Wars franchise. Right around the 11 minute mark you will see it, right behind C-3PO. The bones of a creature sprawled out on the sand dunes of the Jundland Wastes.

The first mention of a Kryat Dragon was in the 1976 novel "Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker" which predated the film by several months. The image of a living Krayt dragon was first drawn by Ralph McQuarrie as concept art for the film. The art shows a battle between Tusken Raiders and a large dragon, an encounter finally realized on screen four and a half decades later in Chapter 9 of The Mandalorian.

Almost all living Krayt dragons in the Star Wars franchise have been depicted as giant lizards similar to the Ralph McQuarrie art, but "The Mandalorian: Chapter 9" reimagines Krayt Dragons as long sand worms, similar to the creature from "Dune" or the monsters from "Tremors".

Krayt Dragons are native to Tatooine where they terrorize local communities. Tusken Raiders utilize Krayt Dragons for their meat. In their native habitat, Krayt Dragons ate a variety of desert creatures and also swallowed stones to help with digestion. Krayts were long lived and sometimes swallowed Kyber Crystals which would turn into a pearl in their stomachs. If the pearls were small enough they could be used to power lightsabers, though some pearls grew quite large in size and could be bigger than the head of a humanoid.

Knobby White Ice Spider

Knobby White Spiders are creatures based on another Ralph McQuarrie design (this time for "The Empire Strikes Back"). In the old Expanded Universe, Knobby White Spiders were from Dagobah. But according to Legends Canon the spiders were actually living roots (part of the lifecycle of a gnarltree). 

Another creature similar to the Knobby White Spiders are the Krykna, which appeared in the second and third seasons of "Star Wars: Rebels". The Krykna were native to planet Atollon. The Rebels of Chopper Base used sensor beacons to keep these spiders away from the base itself. 

Knobby White Ice Spiders appear in "The Mandalorian: Chapter 10". They are native to the ice caves of Maldo Kreis. These spiders appeared to have 6 legs as juveniles, but 8 legs as adults.

Lava Meerkat

Lava Meerkats were small mammalians adapted to live on the volcanic planet Nevarro. They were commonly found on the banks of subterranean rivers of lava (as seen in "The Mandalorian Chapter 8").

A Lava Meerkat is also featured in the opening scene of "The Mandalorian Chapter 12" where it is being tortured by a gang of Aqualish. Curiously, in concept art featured at the end of that episode the Lava Meerkat is scene breathing fire at one of the Aqualish. Could this fire breathing be a adaptive trait of the creature?

Massif

Massif were creatures that first appeared in "Attack of the Clones". The dog-sized lizard-like creatures were domesticated by Tusken Raiders and primarily used to guard Tusken settlements. The creatures were fearsome and formidable, but they were quite docile in the presence of Tuskens or those who could speak the Tusken language.

Though native to Tatooine, Massifs could be found on Geonosis, Florrum and were even imported to core worlds such as Coruscant.

Scurrier

Scurriers first appeared in the 1997 Special Edition of "A New Hope" - but the creatures were also seen in "Attack of the Clones". The CGI model of these creatures was actually a modified version of Jurassic Park's velociraptor. 

Scurriers often scavenged food from homesteads or settlements on the desert planet of Tatooine. Though skittish, they were a common site on the streets of Mos Eisley and Mos Pelgo.  

Creatures of the Mandalorian Season 1

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/12/creatures-of-mandalorian.html

"Light of the Jedi" #1 on the Best Seller list & all the Star Wars books that have hit #1

The cross-media project known as "The High Republic" has finally launched after a year of promotion- and it's off to a great start.

Charles Soule's novel "Light of the Jedi" has found it's way to the top of The New York Times Best Seller List and it's only the 7th Star Wars book in history to do so.

Here is some information about all of the Star Wars books that have hit #1 on the The New York Times Best Seller List.

1983: Return of the Jedi Storybook- A hardcover kid's book complete with full-color pictures from the film is an odd thing to see at the top of the Best Seller List, but every kid in 1983 just had to have this book. It spent a full two months at the #1 position and also became the bestselling hardcover of the year.

1991: Heir to the Empire - Star Wars did not have success outside of the films in the 70s and 80s. There was a terrible holiday special, a terrible holiday album, some questionable comics, and some really weird books based on Lando. When  Bantam Books decided to release some novels for an adult audience, no one thought it was going to work, but Timothy Zahn's "Heir to the Empire" started to climb the best seller list in May of 1991. But the last day of June the novel had topped the list and the Star Wars Expanded Universe was born. So many of Zahn's characters and plot lines still have a major impact on the new Disney Star Wars Universe, especially the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn. The sequels to Zahn's novel also spent many weeks on the Best Seller List but never quite cracked the #1 spot.

1999: The Phantom Menace Novelization- During my youth 1999 was the Summer of Star Wars. The franchise was back in cinemas after a 16-year absence. Star Wars was found on Pepsi Cans, in MTV music videos, a Weird Al Parody, it was everywhere. The Phantom Menace Novelization debuted in April of 1999- a full month before the movie released. Spoilers were everywhere. I remember my brother's friend straight up telling me that Qui-Gon and Maul were both going to die in the film. The concept of a spoiler wasn't really a thing before "The Phantom Menace", but Star Wars fans quickly learned how dangerous a spoiler could be.

It is notable that the book "The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime" also debuted in the fall of 1999. It peaked at #10, but launched a 19-novel series, many of which hit the Best Seller List.

2008: When "Revenge of the Sith" released in 2005, it seemed like Star Wars was finished. Lucas told fans that he would never release another film in the franchise. The future was Star Wars was now tied in with comics, books, cartoons, and video games. One such game was "The Force Unleashed" which told the story of Darth Vader's secret apprentice "Starkiller". The game became the fastest selling Star Wars game of all time and the book tie-in obviously did well too.

2016: The Force Awakens Novelization- 2015 was the Winter of Star Wars. After a decade away from screens Star Wars was back. Not only did it become the Highest Grossing Domestic Film of all time (a record it still holds), the merchandise tie-ins were flying off of shelves, even in book stores. Alan Dean Foster had written the first ever Star Wars novel in 1976, the first novel which was a sequel to the film Star Wars in 1978, and first showed up on the New York Times Best Seller list in 2002 for the Star Wars novel "The Approaching Storm". Now Foster had a #1 Star Wars book to add to his impressive library.

2018: Thrawn Alliances- Timothy Zahn had 8 Star Wars books appear in the Top 15 of the Best Seller List prior to 2018. He had narrowly missed the top position when his 2017 Thrawn book hit #2 in April of that year. Zahn has released a Thrawn book every year since 2017 and they always make the list. Zahn is arguably the most prolific Star Wars author. His next novel, Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good releases on April 27th, 2021.

2021: Light of the Jedi- With several Star Wars novels releasing every year it can be hard to predict which ones could top the Best Seller List. 2017 alone saw seven books in the Top 15. Six books have peaked at #2 narrowly, missing the mark- "Attack of the Clones", "Revenge of the Sith", "The Last Jedi", two of Zahn's books, and "Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse".

It is a delightful surprise and a testament to the Star Wars marketing team that "Light of the Jedi" had debuted at #1. Charles Soule does an amazing job on launching this sub-franchise "The High Republic", which will include 4 Novels, 2 Comic Series, a Graphic Novel, a Manga, and 2 Junior Novels in Phase 1 alone. And upcoming Disney+ series " The Acolyte" will also be tied into the High Republic Era.

The novel feels like a true Star Wars Event. The only book I have ever read quite like it is probably "Vector Prime" all the way back in 1999 when the "New Jedi Order" was launched. The "Light of the Jedi" isn't just a good Star Wars novel however, it's also a really good book despite being tied to the franchise. The concepts herein could work as a generic sci-fi book worthy of a Hugo award (fingers crossed).

Charles Soule has previously written several Star Wars comics including the current mainline Star Wars series. 

*Much of the New York Times Best Seller List research for my blog was compiled from another blog:

https://puerto-pirata-veracruz.blogspot.com/2019/08/star-wars-books-in-new-york-times-best.html

Aliens of the Mandalorian Season 2

Season 2 of the Mandalorian continued to include appearances of classic Star Wars aliens from the original trilogy. These aliens are a treat because so many of them are left out of the Star Wars sequels.

 Abyssin

The cycloptic species known as Abyssin were a tribal race from the desert planet of Byss. Abyssin were seen as a violent race and communicated in a language that consisted of grunts. Like Gamoreans, many Abyssin were hired a thugs. The Abyssin also had the unique ability to quickly regenerate lost limbs. In fact every cell in the Abyssin body was replaced every 80 hours. Abyssin could live to the age of 200-300 but they would eventually lose their regenerative ability and walk out alone to the desert to die. 

A 1978 magazine identified the cyclops creature from the film “Star Wars” as a "Cyceyed" but the name didn’t stick. A 1989 sourcebook was the first to identify the species as “Abyssin” and the 1995 Customizable Card Game identified the Abyssin that appeared in the Cantina scene as “Myo”. 

In The Mandalorian Chapter 9 an Abyssin gangster known as Gor Koresh lures Din Djarin into a trap but ends up strung up from a light pole.

It is notable that the front of Jabba's throne is adorned with four sculptures of Abyssin heads. One such sculpture also appeared in the 1985 TV-movie “Ewoks: The Battle For Endor”.

Mon Calamari

The Mon Calamari species were native to the watery world of Mon Cala. The species lived in underwater cities as well as cities on land. They lived side-by-side with the Quarren species until the Clone Wars when the Quarren decided to join the Separatists.

The Mon Calamari were named after a calamari salad, which creature designer Phil Tippet was eating for lunch one day. Eight Mon Calamari masks were constructed for “Return of the Jedi” in tones of red and orange. The Mon Calamari from Rogue One (Including Admiral Raddus) have skin tones of white and grey and are said to be from the polar regions of Mon Cala.

In The Mandalorian Chapter 11 several Mon Calamari appear on the watery moon of Trask. Norwood Cheek & Frank Ippolito portrayed two of the Mon Calamari in Chapter 11.

Quarren

Quarren are an obviously aquatic species who share the ocean world of Mon Cala with the Mon Calamari. Quarren could dive up to 300 meters under the oceans of Mon Cala. They also were able to spit ink from their mouths as a measure of self defense.

The Quarren species first appeared among the denizens the Jabba’s Palace in the film “Return of the Jedi”. Though the Quarren action figure was simply called “Squid Head”, a 1990 Galaxy Guide would give the name Tessek to Quarren at Jabba’s Palace.

In The Mandalorian Chapter 11 several Quarren appear on the watery moon of Trask.

Unknown Frog Species

Though "Frog Lady" appeared in the background of the Mos Eisley space cantina in the first season of The Mandalorian, most fans did not notice her. This season we were introduced to her, her mate, and her hatchlings. Though this Frog Species appears pretty weak, they actually have many survival techniques that help them navigate a dangerous galaxy. When in danger the Frog Species can hop quite quickly. Like Gungans, they have long tongues capable of quickly catching prey. They are not capable of speaking basic but are innovative and can often find other ways to communicate.

The eggs of the Frog Species are very fragile and cannot survive hyperspace. The eggs also need to be kept at warm temperatures and a female Frog can only lay so many in her lifetime. Once fertilized these eggs quickly begin to hatch into a "tadpole" stage.

"Frog Lady" was portrayed by actress Misty Rosas who also portrayed the Ugnaught Kuiil in Season 1 of the Mandalorian.

Aqualish

The Aqualish were an intelligent species from planet Ando that varied in appearance. The Aquala were more adapted to a aquatic lifestyle and could be identified by two giant fins on the end of their arms. The Ualaq were arachnid-like with four eyes and five fingers who lived mostly on land. Finally the Quara were mammal like and their arms resembled wolf men (such as the Shistavanen). All Aqualish have bulbous tusks that protrude from their faces.

Ponda Baba (who lost an arm to Kenobi in the Mos Eisley Cantina) is the most famous Aqualish among fans. A gang of Aqualish appear in the cold open of Chapter 12 of the Mandalorian and are taken out by Cara Dune.

Togruta

The Togruta species hailed from the planet Shili where they were hunted by giant beasts such as the Akul. Shili was a planet of colorful grasslands, and the Torguta evolved features to blend in with their surroundings. Among these features were colorful skin tones, white facial pigments and stripes. Togruta features also included heads-tails similar to those of Twi’leks. Another adaptation that Torgruta sported were hollow-horns called Montrals which could echolocate, giving the species a heightened sense of their surroundings (similar to the functionality of Gotal horns).

Though Shaak Ti was the first Togruta to appear in the Star Wars franchise, the most famous is undoubtably Ahsoka Tano who became a fan favorite in the animated series "The Clone Wars" and "Rebels". Ahsoka was voiced by Ashley Eckstein in animated shows but was portrayed in live action by Rosario Dawson in Chapter 13 of the Mandalorian.

Weequay

Weequay can be identified by their leathery skin, well suited for desert climates. Many males also sport long braids. Most Weequay are often quiet beings, as they primarily communicate through pheromones, however the pirate Hondo Ohnaka is known to be quite chatty.

The Weequay species was named by George Lucas himself, who paid homage to the "Moby Dick" character Queequeg. Though several Weequay appeared in “Return of the Jedi” as skiff guards, none were ever named. The first onscreen Weequay with a name is possibly Sora Bulq, a Jedi Master from “Attack of the Clones”.

W. Earl Brown portrays a Weequay bartender in Chapter 9 of the Mandalorian.

Gamorrean

Gamorreans are not known for their intelligence. In fact their feeble-minds make them particularly loyal to whomever they serve. Gamoreans prefer melee weapons to blasters, as they consider it honorable to defeat their enemies in close combat. The male boars, in particular, were known have poor hygiene habits.

The appearance of Gamorrans in Season 2 of The Mandalorian was first teased in a December 2019 tweet from Jon Favreau. Two Gamorreans appear in a fighting area in Chapter 9 of The Mandalorian. More Gammorreans appear in Jabba's Palace after the closing credits of Chapter 16.

Aliens of the Mandalorian Season 1

Creatures of the Mandalorian Season 1

New Years 2021

 

A new year often symbolizes a new direction. In 2018 I pledged to publish a blog every week for the entire year. In 2020 I pledged to limit myself to only one post a month. Both pledges ended up being challenging.

Though I did limit myself to 12 posts over 2020, I also spent the past year cleaning up my blog a little. I updated old posts with new information and I spent time creating hyperlink networks to make it easier to navigate. One more thing: I removed ads. I was never going to make any money on those ads and the site looks nicer without them.

I don't have any specific goals for this site in 2021. It is an interesting time for the Star Wars franchise. "The Rise of Skywalker" premiered in a pre-pandemic world. By coincidence, Star Wars has shifted its focus to streaming TV in a time where cinemas are closed and empty. Yet, there is hope for cinematic Star Wars in the future. "Rogue Squadron" is set to premiere in 2023. 

No mater the future of the Star Wars franchise this blog will continue. I will always have more to say about Star Wars. In the meantime here is the work I did during 2020.

The 12 Posts of 2020

 January - The Force of Warwick Davis

February -The Most Obscure Aliens of the Original Trilogy

March- The Voices from Rey's Vision

April- The Best of Trek

May- 40 Ways to Strike Back

June- Who is Valance the Hunter?

July- Top 10 Star Wars Ships

August- Comic Review "Star Wars Tales"

September- Luke's Yellow Lightsaber

October- Project Luminous

November- "From A Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back"

December- The End of "The Mandalorian" is the Beginning of the Star Wars Streaming Universe

2020 Updates

May - Blue Nikto

June- Five more Troopers

July- More "Last Jedi" Aliens

July- More "Solo" Aliens

July- More TIE Fighters

July- Warwick Davis Character Update

August- Star Trek Alien Caitian

November- New Battles

November- Shadows of Vader's Castle

December- Dark Troopers

December- Star Trek Alien Edosian